Adhesives and tapes are commonly used to bond two substrates together to form a bonded composite. Particular adhesive tapes include those that have a foam layer. Such tapes or adhesive articles are used for example in the automotive industry where they may be employed to bond various components to the body of a car or other motor vehicle. Typically they are used to bond such parts as emblems, plastic parts as well as rubber gaskets to doors.
Examples of adhesive tapes are disclosed in for example WO 2008/070386, U.S. Pat. No. 6,503,621 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,415,615.
While a vast array of adhesives and tapes are available, advances in substrates and end use requirements continues to drive a need for new adhesive formulations and tape constructions. For example, developments in paints and coatings on automotive parts to which the adhesive tapes are to be bonded have proven to be particularly challenging. Typically, these coatings and paints have low surface energy, requiring the development of special adhesive tapes. Likewise, there is a continuing trend in the transportation sector and in particular in the automotive industry to further reduce weight of for example cars in order to save on fuel consumption. This trend is leading to use and application of adhesive tapes where they have previously not been used or to the application of tapes in new configurations that are more demanding for example in stress-strain to which the adhesive tape may be subjected. In addition to performance properties, environmental regulations and processing costs also influence product formulation requirements.
It would thus be desirable to find further adhesive articles that have one or more improved performance properties. For example, it would be desirable to find an adhesive article that has improved adhesive performance in adhering to low energy surfaces such as for example paint and coating surfaces of automotive parts. It would furthermore be desirable to find adhesive articles that can be readily manufactured in an economical and cost effective way. Yet further, it would be desirable to find adhesive articles that have good environmental properties. Also, adhesive articles that are compatible with existing manufacturing methods that employ adhesive articles would be desirable.